


Elements of Danger

by FanFicReader01



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Retelling, Violence, resident evil setting with avatar elemental powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFicReader01/pseuds/FanFicReader01
Summary: What if the main characters have elemental powers?Reimagining of some of the RE3 remake events
Comments: 26
Kudos: 13





	1. Swift as water with an edge

**Author's Note:**

> Atm I love RE3Remake. And i've always loved Avatar: The Last Airbender  
> So why not combine them lol
> 
> I feel like it's more like some prompts/loose concept ideas than a proper written story but enjoy anyway :P  
> I think I also won't cover the entire story but only snippets I think could be interesting if it had some sexy elemental bending in it

When Jill is young, she is sure she’ll be a bender like her parents. A waterbender, like her mother. Graceful and gentle. From an early age, she watches her mother use her skills for all kinds of things: from simple tasks such as cooking and watering the plants in their garden to more complicated things such as healing and mixing water with other liquids to create special brews.

Like most kids, Jill wants to be like her strong and beautiful mother. She tries to mimic her careful moves, the different hand gestures. Yes, just like her mother she is adaptive, can push when it’s needed or pull if wanted. She is fluent in language but not in water. Because no matter how much the little girl tries, she can’t move a single drop of water from the glass that stands on the table before her.

“Maybe I’ll develop it later,” Jill tells herself.

But even at the age of twelve, there’s not a single bit of water that is moved by her fingers.

It frustrates her to no end. Even in the schoolyard she keeps on trying but to no avail. The other waterbending kids of her age have already left her behind and started their serious training. Even other benders mock her and those who cannot control an element.

A surprising change comes to Jill, when the bullies push her too far one day. They’re on the training field for gym class. Everyone is surprised, including Jill herself, when she lashes out at one of the obnoxious boys and a fury flame blasts out of her rightfully angered fist.

She is a _fireben_ _der_. All this time, she’d taken after her father.

Her strong and passionate father. The man who likes to boast to others about his beautiful wife and now his daughter, who shares the same flames as him.

At first she is a bit hesitant, fire is, after all, a difficult element to control. Quite literally. But her father makes sure she learns well. And Jill comes to lover her element.

For the first time in her life, she can let the fire in her heart extend to her limbs and out into the world. She makes sure that every word counts, with a beautiful flame behind her.

***

Later in life, she finds her firebending to be very useful when joining the local police forces. It’s not only the burning blades in her clenched fists that convince her superiors, but also the hot fire in her eyes that make her get the job in an, then, all boys’ club.

And ever since then, Jill makes sure that her words are heard and all her actions count. The boys might work hard, but she’ll work harder.

***  
  


Jill has always wondered if the fire inside a bender’s heart ever extinguishes. The answer is yes. For some, that means it extinguishes together with their life. For others, it means the flame is blown out too soon but the body has yet to follow. She falls into that last category.

During a doomed mission to the Arklay Mountains, Jill comes face to face with the definition of true hellfires and the corrupted people behind it, including one of their own, someone she had trusted.

That betrayal had burnt deeper than the wounds that the literal fire inflicted on her. A burn not even the most skilled waterbender could heal. And since that terrible moment in time, Jill has kept herself from using her firebending ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waterbenders are spiritual, they easily adapt and are open for change. They're also great caretakers and have a deep sense of community.  
> Love is also something that really bind them to each other.
> 
> So I was really hesitating what element would be for Jill. First thought was water. She seems to be adaptive like the element.  
> Then I thought how her parents are French and Japanese. So I thought, maybe her parents can both have a different element. And Jill wants to be like her mother, eventually she learns to be adaptive like her but her element is her father's: fire. (This will also be interesting when she'll meet Nicholai huehue)
> 
> Her not wanting to use her firebending again, comes from the trauma at the mansion. In someway it mimics Aang in the first season, where he learns to firebend but is reckless and accidentally burns someone he loves, making him decide to not use firebending again in fear of hurting his loved ones again.  
> I thought that also kind of resonated in Jill :')


	2. Branches of the same tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title inspired by Atla's episode: The Swamp (I believe?) where we learn via a hippie-like dude who lives in a big ass swamp, that everything, every living thing is connected.  
> Here, it simply refers to the UBCS soldiers who have to work together as a unit.

Soldiers from the U.B.C.S. are powerful benders. Each one of them possessing a great variety of tactical skills and a certain mastery in their rightful element. So of course, they are send in when Raccoon City is hit by a mysterious virus outbreak, turning its people into dangerous, mindless zombies who cannot control their powers. Those who are infected need to be put down to not only stop the spread of the virus but also protect survivors from the zombies’ elemental recklessness.

Among the team is their fearless Captain: Mikhail Victor, a seasoned soldier. He knows a human life isn’t as sturdy as the rocks he can control. Humans aren’t hard like rock either. They have too much emotions, have too many soft spots, are mentally too complex. Their lives fleet like a sudden but short breeze rustling through the trees. But despite the many flaws of the human race, Mikhail is willing to protect them at any cost.

For his team, he will become that cold protecting stone, become the unyielding mountain that bows to no wind. Even if it will cost him his own life.

\--

Carlos is still young. Young and naïve but with his heart in the right place despite everything he’s gone through in his youth. No, the guy doesn’t come from an easy background. With both his parents dying at an early stage in his life and without other family support, Carlos has grown up the hard way. Realising that the mud figures (that resembled his parents) he carved himself, didn’t give him the warmth or safety a true human provides, he turns to the most accessible people at the time: the thugs and lowlifes. They teach him how to turn those ‘stupid useless play’ figures into actual weapons. They teach him how to wrap his heart up in stone, make it inaccessible to those who will hurt him. It’s on the concrete of the cold streets he often sleeps on, where Carlos learns to earthbend his _own_ way. Necessary for his survival, later perfected for his desire to protect his new-found family.

That family being the U.B.S.C. soldiers. After the gang he involuntarily got involved with got arrested, the mysterious military group offered Carlos a _real_ bed and a roof under his head. He accepted and now he fights among these men. For so long, he mainly had to fight for only himself but now he has people to fight and _live_ for. People to share stories and jokes with.

\--

The medical specialist of the team is Tyrell Patrick, a waterbender. Besides Tyrell’s obvious experience with healing, he is also sought out by the U.B.C.S. for his intriguing fighting style. Most waterbenders use their water as a defence and as defence only. A lot of waterbender also only blend their fighting style between defence and offense. Tyrell, however, waterbends like a firebender: fierce with strong and precise kicks and shots. He is basically always on the offence, attacking with long water whips, their ends strengthened by sharp ice.

It’s a clear contrast with the healing side of his bending abilities and he is wiling to use both for his team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earthbenders are known to be strong (willed) people. They're loyal too.  
> They are resilient but can also be stubborn, just because they are so persistent in reaching their goals.   
> A great earthbender waits and listens before striking.  
> I thought all these qualities really fit Carlos and Mikhail (Tyrell too but I wanted him to be another element!) They're all soldiers who must have some loyalty (if not for the ideology of the corporation as a whole, then for their direct teammates)  
> I think from a strategic point, Mikhail would also have to be thoughtful (listen) before he acts/executes a plan (strikes).
> 
> For Carlos, I drew some inspiration from Bolin's character in Legend of Korra.  
> Becos both Carlos and Bolin have not gotten traditional earthbending training, their fighting style will differ from those who have had that eduction. In a way, Carlos' way of bending is innovative and very adaptive from situation to situation.
> 
> I liked the idea of Tyrell being a more 'controversial' waterbender. He is a mercenary after all, so I can see his morals being not always 'good.' Hence, why he uses *spoiler alert: bloodbending* (something of taboo in the avatar world btw) Also his waterbending is more in the style of a firebender: mainly offensive. And as he is a medic, it'd be fitting for him to be a waterbender as well.


	3. Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some action :D

Mikhail is doing everything he can to rescue the surviving civilians get to the subway station. Next to protecting the non-benders and the young and the elderly, the captain has to make sure he isn’t hit with stray water bullets and rocks. On top of that, some zombies who used to be earthbenders, often manage to free themselves from Mikhail’s shackles around their feet. The most trouble the U.B.S.C. soldier has, are with fire zombies. They’re the most dangerous as they can often cause unintended explosions.

He feels he is starting to weaken. There are just too many infected and too much chaos. He can’t focus on everything at once and it is eating at him. With more than half his platoon dead and the others separated, Mikhail wonders how long he can hold his own in this crumbling city. While he is holding up a large stone wall to keep an entire horde from the survivors, Mikhail can feel his feet slip as he’s met with the zombies’ resistance.

“Get into the station!” he barks at the humans behind him. He knows he can’t hold this wall up forever and that even if he could keep it up, he is sure the wall isn’t durable enough.

His assumptions become a reality when a big, bulky zombie joins the horde. It used to be a firebender. It growls, making the entire ground shudder. And then it spits a large fireball at the wall. The entire construction combusts and Mikhail gets thrown back. Pieces of the wall combined with the fire of the explosion hit the old soldier in his side, even piercing through his protection vest.

He curses in his mother tongue.

“Mikhail!” Somewhere among the chaos, a familiar voice is heard. It’s Carlos.

As if in slow-motion he watches his team leader get blown away form the impact. Quickly he rushes toward the wounded soldier. Using wild gestures with his arms, he kicks away incoming projectiles and crumbling rubble until he sits near Mikhail.

The zombies are closing in on them already and there’s not much time.

Carlos bends his knees and takes a proper stance. He stretches his arms wide, then claps his hands together, rubbing them to quickly warm up for his next move. He slams his hands into the concrete beneath and manages to evoke a small, local earthquake, throwing all enemies immediately off balance. Even the tall fire zombie loses his balance. In the short moment of breath, the younger soldier drags his captain out of the danger zone. Once they’re into the station, he closes the gate and with an extra wall of earth, Carlos confirms their safety.

On the other entrance of the station stands Tyrell, a water bender, checking the survivors on bitemarks and inspects if their blood is infected. Using the forbidden technique of bloodbending, he draws samples from the people. Those who show signs or are clearly infected, he has to send away. He’d rather not, but his superiors demand him to strictly follow the rules, even if they aren’t always ethical.

“Tyrell, come on in if you go the time!” his teammate calls him.

The waterbender luckily just checked the last citizen for any signs of infection. Clear. Before joining Carlos on the train, he makes sure the gates on his side are sealed off with a wall of ice. He’ll be damned if some fire zombies get through it. Then Tyrell runs over to the other U.B.C.S. members. He gasps when he sees their leader heavily wounded on one of the train seats. Carlos is already preparing the first aid kit but Tyrell knows that his healing skills can be essential to the older man’s survival.

So he gets right to it. Out of his chest pocket, he drops a small vial with special healing water. He unscrews the cap and lets the water slowly flow out. He juggles it in his hand first, forcing it into a small spiral shape. Carlos opens a small bottle with anti infection liquid and puts it close to the waterbender’s hand who then mixes the liquid with the bright blue in his hand.

Tyrell frowns, inspecting the wound as much as he can. “What hit you?”

“Rubble. Stone from my own creation. Mixed with combustible flakes,” Mikhail grits through his teeth.

“Alright, Carlos, I want you to try remove the pebbles.”

“I’ll get this. I’m sorry Captain, this might gonna sting,” Carlos warns Mikhail who is already preparing for the extra pain.

Carlos crooks his fingers slowly. It’s difficult, precise handy work. If he moves his thumb too quick, he could worsen the wound. Mikhail curses but seems relieved when most of the dirt has been removed. That’s when Tyrell comes in with his mixture. A part of the water cleans the wound further, the dirty water then splashing to the floor. The rest of the liquid is used to fasten the healing process and to prevent further infection. Finally, Carlos adds a special, protective layer of mud to seal the wound off and with a bandage on top of that, it’s considered to be done.

“Have any of you two found a way to get the train moving?” Mikhail asks the other benders.

“Not yet. But I’m close,” Carlos nods.

“Good. We barely have enough time left.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think most waterbending soldiers who can, would be using bloodbending. Be it for actual healing purpose or to 'possess' an enemy >:)


	4. Against nature

_“These are blank slate characters. Devoid of any personality or any independent thinking.”_

_“Does it react to the stimuli given?”_

_“Yes. At the moment it already obeys our every order to near perfection.”_

_“Very well. Begin the mutation.”_

***

It was send via a chopper, encased in something alike to a coffin. Once the bolts were unscrewed and the lid fell off and the cold night air washed over it, the Nemesis opened its eye.

_Find the remaining S.T.A.R.S. members and eliminate them and everything that blocks your path in achieving said goal._

The Tyrant got dropped down. Using an old reflex it managed to break a part of its fall by erecting a part of the street tiles. Now it’s on a hunt.

Its vision isn’t like that of humans anymore. It has a clouded imagery. Most colours kind of blending and twisting into each other. There are humans moving around the city but none are to the Nemesis’ concern so it doesn’t have to focus on seeing these humans better. Besides, most of them ignore the giant mass of walking flesh anyway. Some humans that seem to still have a heartbeat try to get away from it. The Nemesis doesn’t bother with eliminating them. They are not in its way of finding the targets. After wandering the streets and destroying some possible hiding spaces, it finally catches onto a smell. _“S.T.A.R.S.”_ The hunting instinct now increased, the Nemesis starts walking faster. A white cloud that visualises the scent leads it to an alley. The target comes in vision and the Nemesis waits a second to observe. A man in a yellow shade is interacting with another human whose colour remains in grey. They’re trying to run somewhere. Not sure where to, but knowing it cannot let its target escape, the Nemesis turns one of its hands into a tentacle and smashes it into the concrete below, bursting out a few blocks that it then fires toward the yellow man.

However, the yellow man seems to be a bender. Suddenly a blast of wind nocks the Tyrant backward. It growls in frustration. The other person was less lucky and seems to be no longer breathing. The Nemesis cuts to the chase but the target’s knowledge on how to use the air around him, makes it a difficult task. At one point, the man flies over a large wall but the wall should not be of any obstacle to the Tyrant. Somewhere deep in the back of its beaten mind, it remembers how to use earthbending skills to break through the wall. Now on a street crowded with other humans, both undead and breathing, it becomes more difficult to distinguish the target’s scent. It doesn’t take the target long to figure out that the Nemesis has trouble with its nose.

The target has seemingly escaped and the Nemesis takes another path in hopes of finding other S.T.A.R.S. members. A few streets later, it catches onto another unique smell. A female! The Nemesis breaks into the building with ease. On the third floor it finds its target. This time using the element of surprise, it bursts through the wall separating it from its target. Merely its mass and weight make this an easy action, though the fact that it has earthbenders skills, helps too.

There’s a faint feeling of victory when the Nemesis finds the female target completely startled. _S.T.A.R.S. Must capture. Eliminate._

The shock is short lived and the woman tries to get away. The Nemesis doesn’t want to let its target escape and crumbles the ceiling, blocking the convenient exit. But the target is clever and finds another way out.

More clever than expected, the target manages to escape the building. The Nemesis pursues and ends up on the streets of the city once more. A familiar smell fills its broken nose. The other target is here!

Trying another attack using the concrete around them, the Nemesis realises it does not work this time. Is it broken? It should _not_ think. _Execute_. The targets have already start running toward another building, blocking the entrance. This time, the Nemesis uses its newfound power to manipulate fire to burn down the blockade. The targets are still inside. _Execute._

The man in yellow once again tries to do something with the air but it feels like mere paper cuts on the Tyrant’s thick, fleshy body that’s covered in black wraps. He is going first. The Nemesis stretches out its hand, shifting into a sharp tentacle, sharpened by hardened clay around it and pierces right through the man. The target wriggles before going limp. Then the Nemesis turns to the woman. She seems frozen. It can feel her heartbeat and it can feel something else boiling inside her. It is something that it can feel inside itself and inside its tank on the back. Does she have the power too? Why does she not use it? Instead she uses weak metal objects to shoot at it.

_Useless._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here are a few things how I interpreted it
> 
> \- Nemesis used to be a human but was experimented on heavily. But at first, he was brainwashed as the short 'prologue' said. I was even thinking about the way the Dai Li brainwashed Jet in Avatar (I will draw parallels alot with the show becos dis is sort of a crossover after all :P) I just realised, this also reminds me of what happened to the poor kids in American McGee's Alice game (they also got brainwashed to become mindless slaves)
> 
> \- Nemesis' smell is, ironically, its biggest sense to track. Just like Nyla, the tracking shirshu of June in avatar >:)
> 
> \- Nemesis can use 2 elemental powers: earthbending and firebending. Earth being its original element, tho it has lost some of its orinal roots to the bending, hence why it cannot always properly bend. Fire is additional, engineerd by Umbrella. (There is no avatar who can control all elements in this au, but Umbrella clearly wants to create super soldiers who can do both) Nemesis is also a combustion bender. Its scarred eye has the tattoo to do so.
> 
> \- Nemesis can feel other people's heartbeats and it can sense if a person is a bender or not! Hence at the ending, it 'senses' something familiar in Jill that it has inside it and inside its tank (spoopy macabre)
> 
> \- Brad was an airbender. He is more of a pacifist and like an airbender, rather avoids conflict instead of fighting and arguing. However, that makes Brad also more timid and cowardice in situations as these.


	5. Wildfire

One of the few U.B.C.S. surviving members is the cruel Sergeant: Nicholai Ginovaef whose flames are as cold as his eyes. Of course he has to be one of the survivors. He didn’t come all this way to Raccoon City just to die an almost comical or ridiculous death. He has data to collect, that will hopefully fill his pockets nicely afterward. Saving those weak citizens are basically some side task he is not too bothered with.

Even without his bending, Nicholai is a brute force of nature and should not be messed with. He is deadly and precise, like most firebenders in his squad. Yet he is truly a master. And he is _definitely_ in his element when actually using those powers. So when he lands in the already dying city, he is grateful that he is now basically forced to use his firebending. He uses his simple bullets and knife to deal with the least threatening zombies, reserving his chakra for more dangerous and important tasks and enemies.

***

The seasoned soldier is on a patrol just outside the station when there’s a distress signal from one of his men. It’s from Seeker. Nicholai has never been fond of who he considers to be the weakest shackle on the chain. However, he looks for him nonetheless. Airbending zombies can be tough opponents nonetheless so he is going to make sure the guy won’t turn.

He finds the airbender in a garage. He seems to be have been hit in the side. A large blood red rose blooming from his flank. Nicholai pays no mind to the woman who is kneeling next to him.

“I’m not infected, Nicholai, _no, no! No-_ “

Without hesitation, the firebender discards of the possible threat by firing an intense blast of heat into the man’s face, melting him like an popsicle. The woman has been smart enough to roll away from the blue fires coming from Nicholai’s fists.

“What the fuck?!” she exclaims in both shock and disgust.

The soldier brushes away his act with a nonchalant tone: “He was infected.”

“ _Might_ have been,” the young woman counters.

Nicholai, already tired to stay any longer, making more words filthy to this weak officer, starts walking away but not letting the chance to taunt her get away: “Are all S.T.A.R.S. _this_ soft? No wonder so many of you are dead.”

It’s met with a snarky comeback, yet not effective enough to faze the Russian. “And what are you? U.B.C.S.? Killing your own people?”

Nicholai didn’t consider his fellow soldiers as his ‘own people’, there is no such thing. Only fellow pawns who must be ready to be sacrificed for the greater good, or for Nicholai’s own gain.

The soldier turns around angrily, facing the woman behind him. “He would have turned. Where is your sense of self-preservation.” Has she no self-dignity? When he locks eyes with her blue ones, it dawns on him. He can finally feel it, something that he did not feel before. It’s her inner fire. She’s a firebender. Like him.

“Where is your pride? Just go back where you came from. Someone who is not even willing to use their rightful bending in situations like these, are only nuisances,” he hisses before walking away. He cannot comprehend her. She must be a strong firebender, yet she is suppressing it. Why? If she wants to survive in this city, she’ll have to use her skills eventually. He shakes his head, ridding himself of those thoughts. They’re not needed. He has a mission to fulfil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firebenders are passionate, fiery and intense. They're also a very proud people.  
> I think it's quite obvious pride is a very important thing to Nicholai. That and power, and boy he has it. His passion for money and power is outed in an aggressive way.  
> Persistent to get what he wants, he won't shy away to literally burn the world around him in order to obtain victory. 
> 
> Just like one of the main enemies in avatar, Azula, I wanted to give Nicholai blue flames instead of the usual orange/red flames >:) It also kind of matches his pale eyes huehue  
> I also like to quote Jeong Jeong on the way he sees firebending: "Fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart."  
> I think in that regard, Nicholai is like most 'bad' firebenders in the show, hungry for power and wealth, they chose a life of savagery, sacrificing their human-side. And Nicholai's flames are sure to cause a wildfire, burning everything that comes in its path, and not stopping iwth burnign and spreading.
> 
> Another fun contrast between Jill and Nicholai is that pride. While Nicholai relishes in the fact he's such a powerful firebender, Jill has come to hate it (in a way like Jeong Jeong does, she sees it as something that only causes pain and destruction) and is probably also ashamed of her powers >:-)


	6. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my writing is all over the place xD I wrote a smutles and now I'm back on this project too :P   
> I'm also still working on the Coffee shop/College AU so don't worry, these two will come to a proper end it's just that I get distracted by side fics constantly xD

Mikhail hates how he has to sit by idly while his remaining men do most of the dirty work. And now there’s the surviving S.T.A.R.S. member added to their group. Although genuinely glad she’s with them, even helped them, he can’t shrug off the possible guilt he’d feel if she got harmed or worse, killed. She’s done far more for them than she should, especially knowing she mistrusts them.

However, this should be over soon. The train tracks have been cleared and they’re about to leave this wretched city behind. Most of them, Carlos and Tyrell have gotten new orders: save the scientist who has a possible cure for the virus. Mikhail would’ve rather done it himself, minimising the death count but he’s not in shape for that anymore. He put his trust in his men, but he’ll be damned if they don’t make it out alive.

Now he’s in the cart with the other Russian and Jill. The woman sits a few benches away from the men. Mikhail can’t blame her. They work for the company that is apparently responsible for it all. The old soldier throws a look at the taller man. Even though Nicholai is on his team, there has always been this eerie air around him. Nicholai reminds him of a heinous viper underneath the grass, hidden until it can strike its opponent. It doesn’t help that Nicholai’s a firebender either, a prideful person. Maybe a little too caught up in that ideal.

“Something on your mind, comrade?” the Russian in question snaps him out of his thoughts. Comrade. That’s an ironic word, coming from that guy’s lips.

“I was just thinking about the past few hours, days. I still cannot fathom how our men got overpowered so quickly by a bunch of mindless zombies,” Mikhail outs his concerns. Then he adds, looking the other man right in the eye: “Funny how one of the gates was sealed off. Molten, it seemed.”

Nicholai remains emotionless but then his face curves into a smirk. Mikhail can almost see the metaphoric flames of victory dance in the other man’s cool eyes. The bastard. There’s no time to ponder about Nicholai’s assumed, questionable actions as the train starts to shake heavily. For a moment they’re in complete darkness as all lights have gone out.

***

It is close to its target. It can smell it. Her scent, mixed with blood and dirt of the streets. Nemesis just burnt down its obstacles and is met with a final challenge: these metal doors won’t budge. Previous encounters with the substance taught it that if it uses brute force, the metal will cower but misshape and possibly even block its path even more. Frustrated, it slams its fists onto the door. Come on. _Budge_.

Its old earthbending instincts come back kicking in. if there is an obstacle, you simply move it. If it is earth, then it is easily manipulated. Maybe if there are tiny bits of rock in the metal, it could bend the rock inside the metal.

Nemesis digs its hardened fingers into the metal, hoping to indeed manipulate a hint of rock inside the material. With a subtle move from its hands, it can feel the metal subtly shake. It seems to work! it takes a step back before plunging into the door again, bending it out of its original shape. Now the scent of the female target only strengthens. It is close to achieving its goal.

_“S.T.A.R.S._ ”

***

Mikhail stares at the beast before him. It’s massive. A terribly molten pile of walking meat. Jill tries to defy the thing but he stops her. She’s going to get herself killed like that.

“No, _I_ got this. Now go, hurry!” he exclaims, already pushing her to the back. He smiles at her reassuringly but both people know he probably won’t make it out alive. But if he can’t, that damn monster won’t get away either.

Despite the crippling pain, Mikhail gets into his stance. One arm still guarding his wound, his rifle dangling around the same shoulder. While Jill escapes with Nicholai, the Tyrant gets closer, already swinging its arms and firing both rocks and _metal_ toward the soldier who manages to counter them with his own limited bending. Mikhail picks up his rifle and starts firing, hoping to slow the thing down.

The ammo quickly empties but not a single bullet seems to have an effect on the monster. Mikhail curses in his native tongue. With his last efforts, he tries to use some rubble around them to lock the monster’s feet. However, this beast is just too strong. Effortless it breaks free from its rocky trap. When it suddenly blasts a fireball in his direction, the Russian soldier falls to the floor. He can feel his wound rip open again. Fresh blood then oozing out of it.

For fuck’s sake, this thing can firebend too?

He looks behind him a final time. Jill seems to have made it to the other wagon at least. This sacrifice is the last thing he can do for her and for his team. So be it then. Hopefully his men and Jill can escape this hell hole. Concentrating his last energy onto bringing this monster down, Mikhail tries to make the earth below the train react to his hands and arms. His anger and pain fuels something more than that. The heat that comes from the train’s friction on the rails and the flames around them, turn the earth below into lava and Mikhail manages to manipulate the boiling substance with his sheer willpower.

“ _Try to bend your way out of this, shitbird!_ ”

***

Jill runs for her life. The feeling of guilt is rushing through her for leaving Mikhail behind like that. She had hoped that he could’ve come with them. And maybe she and the combined power of Nicholai could have ended that thing. That nagging feeling gets replaced by despair when she bumps into a sizzling, closed metal door. Nicholai stands behind it, grinning. This can’t be real.

“Nicholai! Open the door!” the woman yells.

When she looks down, she realises why the door was hot: that firebending bastard had melted the entire thing shut.

“It’s not after me,” Nicholai sniggers amused before running off.

“Nicholai!” she screams and then there’s a humongous blast, smashing the wagons off the tracks and Jill loses her consciousness by the impact of the slam against the train’s window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh boy, lava and metalbending all in the same chapter! How spannend (thrilling) is that?  
> I wanted to mix MIkhail's original ending with the new one, as 1rst end was super heroic as well :') Truly wished we would have seen more of him/if he would have stuck around more.  
> I'd really want to see his reaction on Nicholai's betrayal expanded.


	7. The water changes

After being defeated by the female target, it needs to extinguish the fires that taking up its entire body. It burns. Burns. Burns. It hurts. _Hurts_. Water. It needs water! Through its blurred vision and scent, it detects a large mass of water ahead. Without hesitating, the Nemesis throws itself into the river.

The coolness comes as a relief. But then a different kind of scorch. Its flesh continues melting and then _twisting_. It cries out but the dense mass of liquid fills its mouth and other orifices. The water filling its strange lungs, if those are its lungs, rushing through unnatural veins. The Tyrant feels its body shift, its skin stretch out that would kill a normal human. Its flesh expands and rips and regenerates all the same. Slowly the Nemesis sinks to the bottom of the river where mud starts clamping onto it, furthering the odd transformation. Soon the water can no longer keep a hold of the mutant. Using its claws and new watery tendrils, the Nemesis boosts itself out of the river. It plunges toward the bridge and much to its excitement, the target is still there. She must have underestimated the Tyrant’s persistence on surviving and mostly, _evolving_.

With its new quadruped body, it can run much faster and climb the surrounding buildings much easier. And yet, the woman manages to keep running. The Nemesis bellows when the woman uses all the weapon power she has. Still, she is not using that thing that lays within her, that is part of her essence.

Using its large paws it slams into the concrete, making the cobble stones and tiles shiver into its submission, causing local earthquakes. Due to its transformation, it can no longer use combustion bending, as its face has drastically changed, distorting the eye-tattoo that allowed for that power. However, the element of fire is still running through its body and the vehicles in the surrounding, help it incite them, making them explode by heating their tanks. The water has caused its chest to swell, now leaving a large empty cage. It realises it can draw fire balls from that part of its body. From a safer distance, it tries to draw the energy around it and from within itself, to create one large all-destroying heat in the bodily cave that it will spew out via its mouth.

The female target is faster and with some strange weapon she fires onto the Tyrant’s chest. The heat explodes inside the body, immediately knocking the mutant down. The woman once again escapes its grasp. With its last remaining power that is not spend on trying to regenerate itself, the Nemesis extends a tentacle in the female’s direction. A tendril controlled by water and poison. It gets a hold of the target, penetrating a part of fragile skin and pumping its infection into her bloodstream. Then the Nemesis loses its own consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Water is the element of change. That rule also applies for the Tyrant >:)


	8. Rise of the Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is finally here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh, it turned out better than when i started to write this ending :P

“Have you ever seen something so incredible?” the greedy Russian exclaims as he witnesses the new mutation of the Nemesis blubber into the room. Unlike Jill, Nicholai uses fire fuelled jet propulsions to fly himself out of the danger zone. Damn it, the bastard escapes once again and this time he has the damn vaccine with him too. Jill curses. A slight relief it is to see Carlos on the other level.

“Go after Nicholai. He’s got the vaccine!” she yells.

The earthbender gives her a doubtful look. “What about you?”

“I got this,” she insists. “There’s not much time left!”

“I know you do,” Carlos replies, more determined this time. Using his earthbending skills, he quickly cuts to the chase while Jill is going to deal with this hell of a beast.

The Nemesis has now definitely surpassed the human shape. It is no longer recognisable as such. Jill almost feels pity with the beast. Its constant moaning and groaning almost make her believe the human part that’s left inside, is suffering so much. At this stage, it seems like the creature has mastered some level of bending _all_ the elements. Still, its earthbending stays the most prominent and is the most used as well. Fire comes next. Then water. The form of air is mainly outed via its screeches, producing large air blasts that make Jill hold onto the nearest rock in hopes of not getting propelled into the air like a fragile leaf. The water comes from its humongous cystic balls of flesh among all that other skin that’s almost tearing itself apart.

Jill has easily learnt that those large water sacks are one of the Tyrant’s weakest spots so she aims for them while dodging its fire and earth ball projectiles. The attacks may have become more powerful, but also sloppier and slower which makes them easier to evade in the long run.

Once she has managed to destroy most of the Nemesis’ weak parts she aims for its beak full of rotting teeth. The stench is almost unbearable but Jill’s persistent. This is the last fucking time. She shoves the railgun into its mouth that is now a huge target. “Time to put you out of your misery,” she mutters as she pulls the trigger. The blast is gigantic. The energy that hits its burning guts create an amazing explosion and Jill gets slammed back by the impact.

She groans and with trembling legs she gets back up. Her entire body is covered in the monster’s blood. With an open mouth she gawks at the end result of that final blow. Pieces of meat dripping everywhere, the entire back wall destroyed, burning up.

_The vaccine!_

***

“Nicholai, stop!” The firebender stops in his tracks. He still wants to start the engine of the helicopter but suddenly the earth beneath him is trembling. That darn younger mercenary. Slightly amused though, Nicholai jumps out of the vehicle to face the other bender.

“Give me that vaccine!” Carlos shouts.

“I don’t think I’m going to do that,” Nicholai hisses annoyed. Out of all people, Carlos had to survive too. Damn it.

“You don’t have to do this, Nicholai. We-, I thought we were a team!” Naïve idiot. Nicholai had never cared about his ‘team’. His mission had changed and so did the side he was on. “It’s almost a shame, _Corporal_ Oliveira, that I have to kill you now. You were a great bender, a valuable asset.” Without using more words, Nicholai fires at the younger soldier who then immediately erects a concrete wall between them but the firebender is quick and with using yet another jet propulsion slides behind the construction and fires again. Carlos curses. As a team member, Nicholai gave them always the upper hand, but now as an enemy he was clearly lethal.

Sure that up close could be fatal, Carlos tries to stay on the defence and a few safer feet away from the taller man. All rocks he’s thrown at the man get either evaded or obliterated with fire. The worst opponent he’s ever had. Even though they have trained together, Nicholai always seems to be a step ahead and has more tricks up his sleeve than anticipated.

The firebender clenches his fists and creates two fire whips. He uses them as far range weapons. He tries to lure Carlos closer to him again and even creates a ring of fire around them. The young earthbenders claps his hands together, lets his feet become loose and manages to sink into the roof and move away from the direct threat like a mole. He emerges on another spot of the roof again and tries to guess Nicholai’s next move. He creates multiple blockades to hide behind. The firebender gets frustrated and tries to burn down most of the barricades.

“Come out, you coward!” he barks. But Carlos is smarter than just giving himself to the madman. At one point he covers his entire body in dirt and rock. When Nicholai unexpectedly walks passed him, he attacks the older man. He even manages to land a damn hard hit against him, sending the Russian flying a few feet. “There you are!” A ring of fire gets propelled toward Carlos who can’t evade it in time and gets hit. His armour crumbles down. Time to hide again but there’s not much time for that. Nicholai is growing impatient, done with this hide and seek game of the younger merc.

He stretches his arm, holding out to the sky. He then turns his hand into a fist, only his index and middle finger pointing toward the darkened clouds. He calls upon the energy around him and the thunder above them.

He’s creating _electricity_.

Carlos stares, completely stunned. He had never seen the firebender use that move before. To be honest, by now Carlos shouldn’t be surprised about Nicholai using such technique but still. Also, this feels like a new hit to the chest. First he discovers Umbrella’s true intentions and now one of the persons he looked up to, betrays him too. Even going so far to kill him with such painful strike.

Before Carlos can react, he feels the lightning hit his arm. Immediately it spreads through his entire body and he is rendered immobile and unconscious.

“A damn shame,” Nicholai spits next to the limp body.

***

Jill hurries onto the rooftop and hopes she isn’t too late. Next to the chopper, she notices Carlos’ lifeless body. Tears fill her eyes as she runs toward him. She crashes down next to him and lays her head on his chest. _Thank god_ , he’s still breathing! A hot, blue flame makes her back off. The firebending bastard! She pulls her gun out but Nicholai easily disarms her, melting the weapon and rendering it useless. “I can’t let you do that,” he growls.

“Damn you, you greedy bastard!”

Then the Russian suddenly gets out the vial and throws it at Jill. “Promised you this, didn’t I?” Before she can grasp the vaccine, Nicholai fires at it, breaking the glass, evaporating the liquid that was inside. Jill can feel her heart and hope drop deeper than the city’s sewers.

“Have you any idea what you’ve just done?” is all that comes out of her, like a pathetic little cry. She gets back up and jumps the tall man. The act is so unexpected, she manages to tackle Nicholai with her to the ground. Usually it’s not her style to play dirty but in her state of anger, she just bites her opponent. Her teeth sinking into Nicholai’s lower arm. He curses as he pushes the woman away from her with a short leash of fire. It helps and Jill rolls off of him.

The Russian stares at the bite wound. He’s bleeding. She fucking bit him. When he looks at her, she’s smugly grinning before spitting out his blood as if she’s poisoned.

“Just using hand-to-hand combat and fighting like a dog won’t get you far, Miss Valentine,” Nicholai recollects himself and stands back up. “You can’t defeat me if you don’t use what you’ve always had. Your _fire_.”

“Like hell I will. Just watch me,” Jill stubbornly snaps back and jumps up too. So far she had managed to hold the Nemesis off her back without having to resort to her despicable bending powers.

“Your passion and fury, typical that of a firebender’s heart,” Nicholai remarks amused. Jill runs over at him again, trying to fire another hit but this time the older guy is prepared. They engage in a futile hand-to-hand fight which isn’t even a fight on Nicholai’s side. He is mainly just sidestepping and easily avoiding every kick and punch Jill throws at him. “You know, Miss Valentine?” He nonchalantly says, his tone way too relaxed. He ducks and twirls around her. She loses her balance because the hit doesn’t land and instead her entire weight push her over. The fall turns into a roll and she’s back on her feet again. Again, she plunges toward the bulky man who again avoids her attacks with ease. “You and I aren’t that different after all.” Jill is boiling. Did that bastard really say there were alike? Besides being both firebenders, they have absolutely _nothing_ in common.

“We both have a thing for surviving the worst,” Nicholai smirks. Instead of evading her kick, this time he counteracts and pushes her away with the sole of his boot. It knocks the air out of Jill’s lungs.

“Except, unlike you, _I_ actually _use_ my gift that is bending.”

Gift, Jill laughs. More like, a _curse_ she’s burdened with. Fire only destroys. If you let it loose even a tiny bit, it can still spread and the damage is irrevocable, beyond repair. The people who are marked with that curse, eventually spiral into madness. Nicholai is clearly an example and Jill isn’t willing to go down that road.

She is pressed against the hard ground. Nicholai sits on top of her, pinning her wrists above her head. His eyes so close to hers, she feels his hot breath in her neck. It’s like she can feel the heat of his inner fire, burning her to ashes already.

“Come on, Miss Valentine,” he sneers. “Where is your _true_ power? Is this all you got? Kicking like a half-dead dog.” He sounds disappointed but she doesn’t want to give the bastard what he wants. Her self-control about this fire inside her, he can't take it from her. Else she’ll lose it. Like she has lost so many others already.

Brad. The other S.T.A.R.S. members. Her trust in Wesker, in the world. Friends who used to live in this city. The city itself. Just too many people were lost and their only hope was that vaccine and that was burned down by this evil fucker. Tears stream down her face but she refuses to look at the Russian on top of her. She wont’ give him such satisfaction. It’s already terrible enough that she’s this weak, and so easily brought to tears. Suddenly she feels a weight lift off her and she realises that Nicholai has stood up. What is he doing? Where is he going? Then it strikes her. Her eyes shoot open.

The Russian merc is getting closer to Carlos. He is checking the man for a pulse. _No!_

“Don’t touch him!” Jill screams. A pathetic arm stretches out as if that will stop the firebender from finishing off her friend in cold fire.

Nicholai sadistically chuckles. “What are you going to do, Miss Valentine? Throw a rock at me?”

Jill hates how the bastard is right. She won’t get any further with just her bare fists. But then she’ll have to-

_If only you had used your firebending to save Brad._

_You friends would not have been dead if you had used that spark inside of you._

But Carlos. He’s still breathing. He isn’t dead yet. “Stay away from my friend!” Nicholai visibly gasps when he realises that the fire that had been in his fist, turned to a blade to slit the other mercenary’s throat, suddenly extinguishes. When he realises how that happened, he grins and turns his head to the source. A burning Miss Valentine. He has successfully sparked that thing inside her. And now she’s coming at him. The fire visible in her eyes. She’s faster than expected and now she easily punches Nicholai away from Carlos. She tackled him and the roles seem to be reversed. She has her fist balled, intense heat radiating from it. When she strikes, Nicholai’s own surviving reflexes kick in and he grabs the burning fist in his own. He hisses as he feels his skin scorch. Then he absorbs her fire and blasts it back at her. She flies into the air but this time, she uses her own power to stay afloat and then land steadily onto the ground below.

Now, without hesitating she gets on the offense. Her body goes through the motions as if on auto-pilot. And maybe it _is_ auto-pilot. Even though she secretly wished she would unlearn it, her arms and feet still know how to produce fire, how to strike the best way. The fire that she had been hiding inside her for so long, is now simply crawling out of her, pouring off of her skin. Setting things ablaze. And Nicholai seems to revel in her heat. He is genuinely impressed but somewhere, he knew Jill would be a powerful bender. No one can suppress all that power without a slight part still being tangible.

Jill smashes her hands together, creating a large wave of fire and directs it to Nicholai. With his own wall of blue fire, he blocks her attack. He ducks to the floor, his left foot shooting out and sending a thin wave at the woman who jumps up. While in mid-air, she throws fire daggers. Some even hit her target. Nicholai curses as he feels the cuts in his arms. When he exhales, the flames that caught onto his shirt actually increase. He roughly pats them out before focusing his attention back at the woman. He lashes out but Jill evades him again. Orange collides with blue. Fire is fought with fire. The benders don’t give each other time to recuperate. They’re constantly inches away from destroying each other. A female voice cracks through their battle via a radio. “ _Ten minutes until missile impact_.”

Jill and Nicholai stand on opposite side of the roof’s edge, now able to catch their breath but all they can inhale is the burning ashes around them. Jill can feel her throat burn, her skin itch. She’s close to her final strengths.

“It seems that’s my cue to leave,” Nicholai declares. He pats off some dust and dirt as if he didn’t just break a sweat. He stares the woman down. “As much as I’d love to fight you until the bitter end, it seems the missiles don’t leave me a choice to play fair anymore.”

Jill lets out an audible snort. As if Nicholai has ever played fair with them before. As she tries to approach him, he throws a small fire bomb at her. While she has to shield herself from getting blown up, Nicholai is executing his next, calculated moves. This time he is creating lightning from the energy inside himself. Not many firebenders can do that, let alone control the lightning like he does. Just like Carlos before, Jill is shocked by the sight of such power display.

“It’s time to say goodbye, Miss Valentine. I must admit, you did put up a good fight but alas, it was a bit too late.”

Nicholai’s cold, pale eyes are intensified by the lightning he’s holding. He then points at Jill with the pure intent of killing her off in a second. In the frail time that’s there between the lightning that shoots out of the mercenary’s fingertips and Jill, something goes through Jill’s mind. _Waterbending_. The element she had so strongly wished she’d inherit from her mother. The element of change and adaptability and fluidity. Jill closes her eyes briefly. She focuses on the fatal energy that surges toward her. She imagines it not only to be Nicholai’s hatred materialised, but also her own fears, her own guilt and all negative emotions she’s crammed up inside her for all those months. _Let it flow_.

In a millisecond her eyes snap open, she stretches her hand forward and the lightning makes contact with her fingertips. It rushes through her entire hand. She can almost feel it sizzling through her veins.

She remembers training with her mother. Copying her moves even if the water did not move for her.

_Guide it_. With a trembling arm and sore muscles Jill directs the lightning down to her gut. She bites her lip and tastes steel. She pulls her hand away from her abdomen.

_And let it out._

Her finger points toward Nicholai who looks suddenly terrified. _No_. As much as she wants to destroy him like this, bring him to literal shock, she just can’t. If she’d do that, she’d lower herself to his level. If she has to walk that edge between humanity and savagery then so be it. But today, she can be a step closer to humanity. Her hand sways up to the sky. With a crackling thunder clap, the lightning gets directed into the dense clouds above. Rain starts to fall. Nicholai is dumbstruck. Completely frozen.

Jill runs over to Carlos who seems to have regain consciousness. She pulls him back to his feet.

“Is he not dead yet?” he growls as he sees the other firebender.

“Leave him be, we’re getting out of here,” Jill says. Then she looks at Nicholai again and adds: “But it couldn’t hurt to prevent him from going after us.”

Carlos takes the hint and with a few quick moves, he traps the firebender into a thick wall of concrete, demobilising his hands and feet.

“You’re a fool, Miss Valentine!” Nicholai barks as the duo mounts the helicopter. “A fool and a coward!” Fire comes out of the man’s mouth. He’s like a dragon, an angry one at that.

“Carlos, make him shut up,” Jill commands.

Without hesitating, the earthbender than seals the older mercenary’s mouth with thick mud, leaving him a pathetic blabbering mess. Jill looks at the other firebender for a final time. “You and I were never the same.” Then the helicopter takes off.

There are still many questions left unanswered but she’s sure that Nicholai’s answers would never satisfy her. It would only make her despise him even more. No sudden redeeming quality would emerge from his mouth anyway.

“So you’re a firebender,” Carlos says as they’re flying away.

“Yeah,” Jill whispers. She can still feel it burn inside her and on her skin. “But I don’t want to talk about it now.”

“That’s cool with me. It’s finally over,” the young merc says.

Jill watches as Raccoon City is washed off the map in an all-destroying sea of fire. Maybe for once, she’s glad that flames can be so consuming. It means that Umbrella can go down in ashes as well. And maybe it will be _her_ flames that will land that final blow to the corporation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the story!
> 
> In the end, Umbrella failed to create a creature that could use all elements effeciently. Poor Nemmy :'(  
> I really wanted Nicholai to push Jill to her limits and eventually push her to finally use her firebending again >:)  
> It's ironic how they're literally fighting fire with fire here :P  
> Also again, I drew a lot of inspiration from Avatar <3<3 Even that ending part haha. I think if Jill would've killed Nicholai, she'd give him a quick death and not a painful one such as electrocution :P If she could, she would've put Nemesis out of its misery earlier as well but she still was going thru too much to even try use her firebending that way.
> 
> In the end Jill is the phoenix who has risen from her ashes, even if it was partially thanks to Nicholai who gave her no choice.


End file.
